KAMPALA - The United Nations Development Programme (UNDP) has signed a Memorandum of Understanding with the Economic Policy Research Centre to prepare the National Human Development Report for Uganda.

The report which is expected to be ready mid-2015 will examine human development conditions in Northern Uganda and explore ways in which people in the region can achieve higher levels of human development and contribute to the realization of the full development potential of the region.

“We launch Human Development Reports every year but this one is important to us because we’ll be focusing on how Northern Uganda can transition from recovery to match with the rest of the country in terms of all tenets of development ”Almaz Gebru, the UNDP Uganda Country Director said.

She further said that the report will be critical for tracking the progress of UNDP during the 2010-2015 programming period, but also offer an opportunity for the country office to inform the next Country Programme. The report is also expected to feed into deliberations on the proposed third phase of the Peace Recovery and Development Plan (PRDP).

“We’re happy to be working with EPRC, a well-respected research institution and we trust that we shall be able to get a thorough and good quality report,” she added.

Speaking on behalf of EPRC, its Executive Director, Sarah Ssewanyana said that EPRC was glad to work with UNDP on this important report and promised a good quality and timely deliverable.

The Human Development Report is an annual UNDP flagship report which measure human development all over the world. It focuses on overall human development and not just economic growth. Country offices also produce their own reports however this will be the first such report for Uganda in the last five years.